C.D. Leganés players Gaku Shibasaki and Yoel Bárcenas will participate on national duty for Japan and Panama, respectively, as the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup continue. The Japanese midfielder and attacking Panamanian as such will be absent for the upcoming fixture against A.D. Alcorcón.
Gaku's Japan face two qualifying games and are currently mathematically placed to guarantee their qualification by their conclusion. The Samurai Blue, 2nd place in their group, will have two home games, first on Thursday 27th January at 11:00 against China and then on Tuesday 1st February at 11:35 against Saudi Arabia. The two highest placed teams acquire direct qualification for Qatar, so two victories combined with mistakes on their rivals' behalves, could see their tickets to the World Cup booked imminently.
Omeruo returns to Spain as Nigeria were eliminated in the AFCON Round of 16
Bárcenas joins Panama for three more qualifying fixtures in the final eight of the CONCACAF nation. Panama occupy 4th place, just inside the qualifying spots, and will face Costa Rica in the early hours of Thursday January 27th at 3:05 and Jamaica on Sunday 30th January at 0:05, before travelling finally to play Mexico on Wednesday 2nd February at 4:00.
Kenneth Omeruo's national duty has drawn to a close however. Nigeria's elimintation from AFCON 2021 in the Round of 16 by Tunisia (0-1) brings his tournament participation to a close after playing every minute of their final game. Except for an injury scare in his first game that saw him substituted before the final whistle, the centre back featured in three fixtures for the Super Eagles and played every single minute of each match.
